[Greek Titan, one of the older generation of gods in Greek mythology, who preceded the Olympians and whose size and power was outstandingly great.]

Some words refer to fossil species: a titanosaur (Greek sauros, lizard) is one of several gigantic Cretaceous dinosaurs; a titanothere (Greek thērion, wild animal) is a very large extinct horned mammal species related to the rhinoceros. Other examples refer directly to the Greek gods: Titanism is a spirit of revolt against the established order or convention, in reference to the war of the Titans against the Olympian gods, called Titanomachy (Greek -makhia, fighting). The usual adjective referring to great size is titanic (but see the next entry for another sense).